Iceland vs Britain: who got Nazis gold

Iceland vs Britain: who got Nazis gold

14.08.2017

The hidden during the World War II gold is not a myth anymore. We will tell you about the Reich’s reserves and the new findings of researchers.  

Lost Reich’s Gold

It remains a mystery how many treasures were stolen during World War II as well as how many banks and churches were looted. Most of the stolen wealth was transported by trains and ships. Treasure hunters believe that only a fifth of what was hidden has been found, so searches might pay off.

 

Fuhrer’s personal secretary Martin Bormann declared gold as an inviolable stock.

Experts have estimated the value of the accumulated yellow metal as up to $500 million. According to the Potsdam Agreement of 1945, the gold of the Nazis is to be distributed among four countries: the USSR, the USA, Britain and France.

In 1946, the Trilateral Commission for the return of Nazi property was established. Thanks to the commission’s work, 329 tons of gold have been found for the last 50 years.

Treasures are generally hidden safely, most often concealments are found empty after jewels have been re-hidden. Nothing is known about the location where all the values of the Reich are stored.

The train No277 consisting of 24 wagons with gold and jewels disappeared without a trace just as the wagons with gold looted in Ukraine, the stolen Romanian church gold and 100 tons of gold from Croatia.

Gold of a sunken ship

The German SS Minden cargo ship sailed from Brazil in early September, 1939. Adolf Hitler ordered the captain to flee or sink the vessel in case of detection by the British. The Royal Navy never seized the cargo, because the ship sank at the coastline of Iceland on September 24, 1939.

Gold was intended for financial support of high-ranking war criminals, the resistance movement known as "Werewolf" and replenishing the pension funds of German generals. It was worth $130,388,000.

Fight for 4 tonnes of gold

The UK company "Advanced Marine Services" formally appealed to the government of Iceland with a request to allow works on the sunken ship to get the precious metal and transport it to the UK as planned.

The authorities of Iceland replied that they learned what was going on only after they discovered the research vessel Seabed Constructor in their waters. The Coast Guard tried to find out why the ship was in the waters of Iceland, and according to them, the crew members gave "vague and different explanations".

Georg Lárusson, director of the Icelandic Coastguard, said that the crew on board the of the British ship acknowledged that they were examining some 'interesting target' from the Second World War, but no further explanation was given.

 

Representatives of the Coast Guard of Iceland claimed that the British does not bear permission to conduct search operations in this area. Therefore, the British crew should give an explanation of their actions in Icelandic waters.

By law, all the gold discovered is transferred to the ownership of the country, in this case, Iceland. However, 10% of the value will be given to those who found the treasure. Also, the law stipulates that the country compensates for the search expenses.

 

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